French Doubling N-arms On Subs

LONDON — France will more than double the number of nuclear warheads carried aboard its submarines this year and will have nearly 500 submarine-based warheads by 1992, it was reported Tuesday.

In an interview published in the new edition of Jane`s Defense Weekly, Defense Minister Charles Hernu said France would have 176 warheads in its submarine force this year compared to 80 last year.

He said one new nuclear-armed submarine, l`Inflexible, will go into service this year, bringing the total to six. He said l`Inflexible will be equipped with the M4 missile, which carries six warheads, each with a yield of six kilotons. One kiloton has the explosive force of 1,000 tons of TNT.